Fewer Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, indicating companies continue to hire at a modest but steady pace.
Fewer Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, indicating companies continue to hire at a modest but steady pace.
The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications for unemployment benefits fell 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 366,000.
The four-week average, a less volatile measure, dropped to 350,500, the lowest in nearly five years. The average is low because of seasonal factors, which reduced applications sharply last month.
State officials say federal automatic budget cuts will lower an unemployment benefits program for people in Washington.
The automatic budget cuts that took effect March 1 are forcing a 10.7 percent reduction in extended unemployment benefits for thousands of idled Idaho workers — at least through September, the Idaho Department of Labor reported Thursday.
WASHINGTON — Unemployment rates declined last month in more than half of the 372 largest U.S. cities, further evidence of steady improvement in the job market.
HARD TO PLEASE: Stocks fell back from record levels, even after the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week. The big rally has made investors harder to please.
Whatcom's unemployment rate remained among the lowest in the state last month, but keeping it below 7 percent could be a challenge in the months ahead.
In November the unemployment rate in Whatcom County was 6.5 percent, up slightly from a revised October rate of 6.3 percent, according to data from the Washington State Employment Security Division.
November's rate is the third straight month that Whatcom County was under 7 percent; that hasn't happened locally since 2008.
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